The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3

by Mrs. West

  CHAP. II.

  I will not choose what many men desire, Because I will not jump with common spirits, And rank me with the barb'rous multitudes.

  Shakspeare.

  About the commencement of the reign of King Charles the First, astranger came to reside in a populous village in Lancashire, undercircumstances of considerable interest and mystery. He was young, andelegant in his person; his language not only evinced the cultivatedchasteness of education, but the nicer polish of refined society. Whendrawn into conversation (to which he seemed averse), he discoveredclassical learning enlivened by brilliant wit, and seasoned by deepreflection. He was versed in the history of foreign courts; and if heforbore to speak of our own, it seemed more from caution than fromignorance. He excelled in fashionable exercises, rode the great horsewith a military air, and alarmed the rustics by his skill in fencing,as much as he delighted them by the till then unheard tones which hedrew from the viola-de-gamba. It was impossible that, with theseaccomplishments, a sad-coloured cloak and plain beaver could conceal thegentleman. In vain did he report himself to be a Blackwell-hall factor,whom an unfortunate venture had reduced to ruin.--Every one discoveredthat his manners did not correspond with this description, and theywould have at once determined him to be some gay gallant, whosewantonness of expense had outstripped his ability, had not his pursecontained good store of broad pieces, which his hand liberally bestowed,as often as poverty appealed to his benevolence.

  A Lancashire gentleman in those times had less intercourse with themetropolis of the British empire, than one of the present day, has withCanton. No London correspondent, therefore, could whisper the suddendisappearance of a sparkling blade, who, after blazing awhile atWhitehall, had unaccountably vanished like a meteor from its horizon;nor had the depredation of swindlers, or the frequent intrusion ofimpertinent hangers-on compelled the owners of manorial houses to shuttheir doors on uninvited guests. The jovial coarse hospitality of thosetimes delighted in a crowded board; the extensive household dailyrequired ample provision, and refinement was too little advanced fromits earliest stage to make nice arrangement or rare delicacies necessaryto an esquire's table. Such a guest therefore as Evellin, was eagerlysought and warmly welcomed. He joined with the joyous hunters in themorning, he relieved the sameness of their repasts with his diversifiedinformation; and in the evening he was equally gratifying to the ladies,who being then generally confined to the uniform routine of domesticprivacy, loved to hear of what was passing in the great world. He coulddescribe the jewels which bound the hair of the Queen of Bohemia, and hehad seen the hood in which Anne of Austria ensnared the aspiring heartof the Duke of Buckingham; beside, he led off the dance with matchlessgrace, and to their native hornpipe enabled them to add the travelledaccomplishments of the galliard and saraband. What a concentration ofagreeable qualities! It must be owing to the invincible pressure ofsecret uneasiness, and not to a suspicion of the cordiality with whichhis entertainers welcomed him, if Evellin ever passed a day in solitude.

  Yet he came into society with the air of one who sought it as atemporary relief from anxiety, rather than as a source of realenjoyment. A visible dissatisfaction, constraint, and unsubdued aversionto the present, arising from regret at the past, sometimes interruptedhis graceful courtesy, and oftener made him indifferent to the passingscene, or unconscious of it. This humour increased whenever he receiveda dispatch from London, and at one time the mortification which hisletters excited, threw him into such a mental agony, that the cottagerswith whom he lodged, recurring to what was then deemed a specific fortroubled minds, called in the aid of Dr. Eusebius Beaumont to give himghostly consolation. I am not going to bring a mortified Franciscanfriar on the scene: his reverence was the village pastor, happy andrespectable as a husband and father, and largely endowed with thosewhich have signalized the Church of England, whenever she has beencalled to any conspicuous trial. Learning and piety were in him twoneighbouring stars that reflected radiance on each other, and wererather brightened than obscured by his humility. His manners and habitsof life retained the simplicity of the primitive ages, yet were they soblended with courtesy, nobleness of mind, and superiority to every meanselfish consideration, that the most travelled cavalier of the timescould not more winningly display the true gentleman. His example shewedthat the superiority which distinguishes that character consists not inadopting the reigning mode (that poor ambition of a copyist), but in therefined suavity which defies imitation, and is an inborn sentiment,rather than an assumed costume. The most powerful peer in England hadnot a more independent mind than Dr. Beaumont. His fortune wassufficiently ample to supply his modest wants and large benevolence;they who envied his popularity knew not how to weaken it except byimitating the virtues in which it originated. Placed in that respectablemediocrity which was the wish of Agar--too exalted to fear an oppressoror to invite insult; too humble to make ambition look like virtue, or tofall into that forgetfulness of his Maker, which is often the damningsin of prosperity; accustomed to those habits of wise self-control thatfit the mind and body for their respective functions; and perfectlypossessed with a most conscientious resignation and confidencerespecting future events--he was free from those cares which corrode thetemper and contract the understanding. Next to his church, his study washis earthly paradise; but the same calm principle of self-disciplineattended him there, and regulated his enjoyment of lettered ease. Heleft his beloved authors without a sigh, as often as active duty calledhim to attend the sick cottager, to heal contention between hisparishioners, to admonish the backsliding, or to defend the cause of theoppressed.

  Such was the man who presented himself to the agonized Evellin; nor wasthe latter surprized at the visit, or at the serious admonition which hereceived. Parochial care was not then regarded as a novelty, when itextended beyond the altar or the pulpit; and the graceful stranger felthimself reproved by one who had a right to exercise the functions ofspiritual authority. He bowed to the pastor's instructions, with arespect which characterized those times, when the power of the churchwas supported by superior holiness, and acknowledged even by those whoin their lives disobeyed her precepts. His subsequent behaviour made Dr.Beaumont not only pardon the infirmities of a wounded spirit, but alsoapply the balm of friendship to them, by giving the stranger a mostcordial invitation to the glebe-house, where he promised him a friendlywelcome as often as he was disposed to relish the quiet habits of hisfamily.

  It so happened, that after Evellin had twice or thrice passed the littlewicket that separated the parson's garden from the village green, hedisliked taking any other road. Yet though Mrs. Beaumont's person was ofthat description which subjects Lancashire ladies to the imputation ofwitchcraft, (a charge too clearly proved against them to be denied,) itwas not the fascination of her eyes which drew the loitering step, fixedthe unconscious gaze, and almost charmed to repose the stranger's untoldsorrows. The wife of his friend excited only the respect and esteem ofthis antique courtier; but a young unaffianced Arachne sat spinning byher side, discreet and ingenious as Minerva, rosy and playful as Hebe.This was Isabel, the younger sister of his reverence, who, not inwardlydispleased that the family party was enlarged by such an agreeableguest, nor wholly unconscious of the power of her own charms, strovewith all the unsuspecting confidence of youth to amuse a visitor whomher honoured brother pronounced worthy of esteem and pity, and willinglyexerted her arch vivacity to divert a melancholy of which no one knewthe cause. Evellin soon discovered that he interested the fair recluse,and though she was not the first lady who viewed him with favour, he wasflattered by an attention which he could not impute to extrinsicqualities. "She certainly pities me," observed he, on perceiving anunnoticed tear steal down her cheek, when with unguarded confidence,momentarily excited by the benign manners and calm happiness of hishost, he inveighed against the treachery of courts and the weakness ofKings. "Can she love me?" was his next thought; "or why this livelyinterest in my sorrows?" Thi
s doubt, or rather hope, was suggested byhearing Isabel sob aloud while he told Dr. Beaumont not to look for anyearthly return for the kindness he shewed him. "Were my fortunes," saidhe one day to his hospitable friends, "equal to my birth, you shouldfind me a prodigal in my gratitude, but my own folly in 'believingintegrity of manners and innocence of life are a guard strong enough tosecure any man in his voyage through the world in what company soever hetravelled, and through what ways soever he was to pass[1],' furnished myenemies with weapons which have been used to my undoing. For this lastyear I have suffered alternate hopes and fears. Whether my heart is sickof suspence, or the clouds of mischance really thicken around me, I canscarcely ascertain, but my meditations grow more gloomy, and I believemyself doomed to an obscure life of little usefulness to others, andless enjoyment to myself. Among my privations I must rank that ofspending my days in unconnected solitude. Who will willingly share thescant portion of bare sufficiency, or interweave their destiny with thetangled web of my intricate fortunes? Would you plant a flourishingeglantine under the blasted oak? Remove it from such a neighbourhood, orthe blessed rain passing through the blighted branches, will affect itsverdure with pestilent mildew, instead of cherishing it with wholesomeshade."

  Some short time after this conversation, Mrs. Beaumont observed to herhusband that an extraordinary change had taken place in Isabel's mannerssince Evellin had become a frequent visitor. "She very rarely laughs,"said she; "but that I do not wonder at, for the infection of hismelancholy has made us all grave; but she often, weeps. Then she is soabsent, that she cut out the frieze gowns for the alms-women too short,and spoiled Mrs. Mellicent's eye-water. The tapestry chairs are thrownaside, and she steals from us to the bower in the yew-tree thatoverlooks the green, where she devotes her mornings to reading Sydney'sArcadia. My dear Eusebius, I see her disease, for I recollect my ownbehaviour when I was doubtful whether you preferred me; but surely, if aconnection with Evellin would involve our dear Isabel in distress, oughtI not to warn her of her danger in so disposing of her heart?"

  "I fear," replied the Doctor, "if your observations are correct, thatthe caution would now come too late. Isabel is of an age to judge forherself, and if she prefers a partner in whom high degrees of desert andsuffering seem united, ought her friends to interfere? If her ownfeelings tell her that she considers personal merit as an equipoise toadversity, shall we tell her that outward splendour constitutesintrinsic greatness? I marvel not that Evellin interests my sister; heengages most of my thoughts, and I have employed myself in collectinginstances of good men suffering wrongfully, and of the piety, humility,and patience with which they endured chastening. These may be useful toEvellin; if not, they will be so to ourselves whenever sorrow visits ourabode, as she is sure some time to do while she is travelling to and froon the earth."

  Mrs. Beaumont acquiesced in her husband's opinion, and determined thatlove should take its course, but it met with an opponent in the personof Mrs. Mellicent Beaumont, who perhaps was not free from thoseobjections which elder sisters often entertain to the engagements of theyounger branches of the family, while they themselves write spinster.She had now, however, a more colourable plea; the beauty of Mrs. Isabelhad attracted the notice of Sir William Waverly, and to see her sisterthe lady of Waverly Park, roused that desire of pre-eminence which,though absolutely foreign to the principles of Dr. Beaumont, was notoverlooked by all his family. She thought it became her to lectureIsabel on her preference, and unwittingly confirmed it by exhibiting, inopposition, two men of most dissimilar characters and endowments; theone, brave, generous, enlightened, accomplished, but unhappy; the other,lord of a vast demesne, but selfish, ignorant, scant of courtesy, andproud of wealth. "Tell me not of Waverly Park," said Mrs. Isabel, "Iwould sooner gather cresses by his lakes as a beggar, than sail overthem under a silken awning with him by my side as my companion for life.His language, his ideas, his manners, differ from those of our meanestrustics in no other way than that theirs is the native simplicity whichhad no means of improvement, and his the wilful grossness which rejectedit when offered, resting satisfied in what he received from hisancestors, without adding to it attainments that would properly havebeen his own. I know not what Evellin has been: clouds and storms hoverover his future prospects. I see him only as he is the chief among tenthousand, and one who suffers no diminution even while conversing withour honoured brother; and I should be prouder of allying him to ourhouse than of changing this silken braid for a golden coronet." Mrs.Mellicent, after some remarks on the inconsiderate obstinacy of threeand twenty, and the sure repentance of head-strong people, withdrew heropposition, to be renewed when the event should justify her predictions.

  The lovers did not long rest in that unavowed consciousness which left ashadow of doubt as to their reciprocal attachment. To Evellin'sdeclaration of unalterable love, Isabella answered, that she knew toolittle of his situation to say whether she ought to be his, but herheart told her she never could be another's. The lover poured forthprotestations of gratitude. "No," answered she, "I deserve no thanks;for, to tell you the truth, I have endeavoured to see you withindifference, but find it is impossible. You have lived in courts, Mr.Evellin, where women are hardly won and quickly lost; but do nottherefore despise a Lancashire girl who dares not play with Cupid'sarrows, but loves in sad sincerity, or rejects with steady courtesy; yetif you suspect that you cannot meet my devoted constancy with equalsingleness of heart, leave me now, good Evellin, ere yet my life is sobound up in your sincerity, that I shall want strength of mind todissolve the bond. At present I am so much more disposed to respect youthan myself, that I may think what you have said was only meant forgallantry, which my ignorance of the world has misconstrued. If afterthis warning you still persist in your suit, you must either be, tilldeath, my faithful lover, or virtually my murderer."

  "My own betrothed Isabel," answered Evellin, "to love, pourtrayed withsuch chaste simplicity, I owe a confidence as unbounded as thy own. Iwill put my life in thy keeping, by disclosing the bosom-secret I haveconcealed even from thy saint-like brother. 'Tis the pledge of myconstancy. Mark me, dearest maiden, though a proscribed wanderer wooesthy love, thy hand may be claimed by a peer of England, and those graceswhich adorn thy native village may ornament the palace of our King."

  He paused to see if the glow of ambition supplanted the virgin blushesof acknowledged love; but Isabel's cheek displayed the same meek roseatehue. No hurried exclamation, no gaspings of concealed delight, no livelyflashings of an exulting eye, proclaimed that he was dearer to her nowthan before he acknowledged his high descent. Her objections to a speedymarriage were even confirmed by this discovery. "I must know," said she,"that there is no one who possesses a natural or acquired right tocontrol your choice. People in eminent stations owe many duties to thestate, and must not soil their honours by unworthy alliances. Perhapsunder your tuition I might so deport myself as not to shame your choice,but I must be well assured that I shall be no obstacle to your moving inyour proper sphere, or I will die Isabel Beaumont, praying that you maybe happier than my love could make you."

  Evellin rewarded this generous attachment by telling her his assumedname was an anagram of his real one, Allan Neville, presumptive heir tothe earldom of Bellingham, the honours of which were now possessed by anelder brother, whose declining state of health made it probable thatAllan would soon be called from the obscurity in which he lived, andcompelled to clear his slandered fame or sink under the malice of hisfoes. As a younger brother, he was expected to be the founder of his ownfortune. His education, therefore, had been most carefully conducted; hehad had the best tutors in every branch of learning; and he hadtravelled under the guidance of an enlightened friend. The pacificcharacter of King James furnishing no employment in arms, he had soughtthe court as his sphere of action; but while he was displaying theaccomplishments he possessed, and acquiring the knowledge of mankindwhich is necessary to a statesman, he at once attracted the notice ofPrinces and the envy of their favourites. That fearless c
andour, andthat self-depending integrity which generally attends the finestqualities and noblest dispositions, rendered him careless of the frownsof those whom he discovered to be rather crafty rivals than generouscompetitors, and determined him rather to despise opposition than toconciliate esteem.

  The haughty Duke of Buckingham was then in the zenith of his power. Bybringing Prince Charles back from Spain he had relieved the nationalanxiety; and the short-sighted multitude, forgetting who had endangeredthe heir-apparent's safety, heaped on him undeserved popularity. Hencehis extraordinary good fortune in pleasing all parties so elated him asto make him shew in his conduct that contempt for his benefactor, KingJames, which he had long secretly entertained. By the impeachment of theEarl of Middlesex, a confidential adviser and personal favourite of theKing's, from motives of private pique, and by hurrying the nation into awar with Spain, for which the Parliament had not provided resources, helaid the foundation of the pecuniary difficulties, and created thoseevil precedents which ultimately contributed to overthrow the regalauthority. These fatal results of his pernicious measures formed anawful lesson to Kings on the mischiefs incident to favouritism, and onthe folly of erecting a pile of ill-constructed greatness, which, in itsfall, often endangers the stability of the throne.

  To this vain, ambitious man, practised in all the smooth graces andinsidious arts of a court, the aspiring, but frank and honourableNeville, more enlightened, equally engaging, and animated by purermotives, was an object both of envy and of fear. He scrupled not tolament the indignities which the declining King suffered from his formercup-bearer, who had danced himself into the highest honours Englandcould bestow, and now basely turned from the setting orb from which hederived his borrowed splendour, to worship the rising sun; nay worse,who attempted to alienate the duty of an amiable Prince from his sickand aged father. Neville was earnest in his expressions of disgust atsuch baseness; and the minions of the Duke did not suffer these hastyebullitions of virtue to die unreported. The sarcasms soon reached hisear with magnified severity; and the ruin, or at least the removal ofhis growing rival became necessary to his own security.

  Chance favoured the Duke's designs. A gentleman in his suite wasassassinated in the streets of London when returning from a masquerade,and the murderer was seen in the act of escaping, not so near the bodyas that his person could be identified, but plain enough for thebeholders to ascertain that he wore the very dress in which Nevilleappeared that evening. The implacable enemy he had indiscreetly provokedpossessed the royal ear; and though a jury could not have found in sucha coincidence sufficient grounds to indict Neville, the Duke easilyprocured a royal warrant for his immediate arrest. "My own heart," hereobserved Allan, "and my confidence in the justice and good sense of mycountry, prompted me to brave my accusers; but I had now a convincingproof that with all my acquirements I still wanted knowledge of theworld. I, however, possessed the invaluable blessing of a sincere, wise,and prudent friend, one who reads man in his true characters, and dealswith him cautiously, instead of believing him to be the ingenuousoffspring of simplicity. In early youth this friend saved me from awatery grave, and he is now the guardian of my fame and fortune. Inconformity to the advice of the kind Walter de Vallance (for that is hisname), I yielded to the storm; instead of resisting its fury, I chosethis retreat; and since my innocence as well as my guilt admitted not ofproof, I offered to submit the dubious question to the arbitration ofthe sword, and called on Buckingham to meet me in single combat, or, ifhe declined a personal engagement, to select any one of noble birth andbreeding for his proxy, who should accuse me as the author of Saville'sdeath. Walter de Vallance carried my proposal to the young King, who atfirst yielded to my suit, but, on consulting his chaplains, judged thisto be an unlawful manner of deciding disputes in a Christian country. Iam now informed that by my flight I have erased those impressions whichmy former behaviour had made in my favour. Many think I was themurderer; and the vast power my adversary possesses at court is renderedstill more dangerous to my life and fame, by the pains that have beentaken to prepossess those who would have to decide upon my fate. Butshould the death of my declining brother call me to act in the samesphere with my proud oppressor, and put my life into safer guardianship,I will burst from the retreat which I sometimes fear was unadvisedlychosen, and either fall by an unjust sentence, or vindicate myinnocence. I will no longer, like the mountain-boar, owe a precariousexistence to the untrodden wilds in which I hide from my pursuers."

  Even now, when the universal passion for luxury and self-enjoymentrenders prosperity so alluring, subdues our native energies, and makesus the puppets and slaves of fortune, there are some lovely youngmartyrs who immolate prudence on the shrine of love. It may easily beimagined, therefore, that this heroine of a simpler age, instead ofbeing discouraged by the difficulties her Allan had to encounter, lovedhim with more intense affection. He an assassin!--the eye that flameddefiance on an ungrateful vicegerent of the King, when every knee buthis bent in homage, could never pursue a court-butterfly, or guide amurderous dagger to a page's breast, while indignant virtue pointed thesword of justice to a public delinquent. Isabel agreed that it was wrongin Evellin to fly; but when, on her lonely pillow, she cast her thoughtson the alternative, and contemplated her beloved, in the hands of himbefore whom a potent peer had recently fallen; in the power of a manarmed with the confidence of two successive monarchs, and now the idolof the people; when she saw Evellin arraigned before a packed jury, noevidence to prove him innocent, and scarce an advocate sufficientlycourageous to defend him; female softness shrunk at the image of suchperils. She blessed the prudent De Vallance who had snatched him fromsure destruction, and rejoiced at an event which afforded her the meansof seeing human nature in its most captivating form.

  When Evellin found that her constancy was proof to this trial, heunfolded the brighter prospects which the letters he received from DeVallance occasionally afforded. This invaluable friend had, to the greatjoy of Evellin, allied himself to their house by marrying the LadyEleanor Neville, his only sister. Though Buckingham never stood firmerin the King's favour, he had already experienced that popular esteem isa quicksand, fair to the eye, but fallacious and destructive to all whobuild their greatness on it. Two parliaments that were called, insuccession, to grant the supplies which the favourite's profusion, andthe war in which he had unwisely engaged, rendered necessary, had beenangrily dissolved for presenting petitions for redress of grievancesinstead of passing money-bills. The King was still deservedly popular.The odium of these acts, therefore, rested on the minister. He had,besides, a potent enemy in the palace, no less a person than thebeautiful queen, who complained that the Duke, not content withdirecting state affairs, intruded into the domestic privacies ofroyalty, and left her without the power, which as a wife and Princessshe ought to exercise, that of choosing her servants and rewarding herfriends. Nor did this presumptuous servant rest here. The spotlesspurity of the King shrunk from conjugal infidelity; but Buckingham foundmeans, during the hours of easy confidence, to insinuate suchreflections against the religion, the foreign manners, and the nativecountry of Henrietta Maria, that the affection which once bade fair tocement the union of a virtuous and amiable Prince with the lady of hischoice, was weakened by reserve, doubt, distaste, and all the sentimentshostile to conjugal peace.

  The Lady Eleanor De Vallance held a situation in the household of theQueen, and possessed a secure place in her affection. She knew thesecret discontent of her royal mistress, and the pique she felt againstBuckingham, who, she also knew, sought the ruin of the house of Neville.Evellin did not enlarge on the amiable features of his sister'scharacter. He spoke of her as one who panted for aggrandisement, andpossessed the means of attaining her object; adding also, that she waspledged to the ruin of the favourite by those strong inducements,interest and revenge. He dwelt with pleasure on the valuable and usefulqualities of her husband, who, he said, united to the talents whichgenerally achieve success, the circumspection and foresight that secu
reit. While such able assistants advocated his cause, despair would havebeen weakness.

  Months, nay years, rolled away. Evellin was liberally supplied withremittances, and the hearts of the lovers became more firmly united. Dr.Beaumont, assured that his sister knew the circumstances of her lover,though neither chose to intrust them, to him, confided implicitly in herdiscretion and his honour. As a man, there was little to blame and muchto revere in the character of Evellin. He was open, impetuous, brave,generous, and placable, with a noble simplicity of soul, untainted bythe mean alloy of selfishness. He was a Christian too. In Dr. Beaumont'seye, that was an indispensable requisite. Yet more, he steadily adheredto the established church with enlightened affection; and in an age whenthe Puritans grew more open and confident in their attempts to overthrowit, love for the most venerable support of the protestant cause was asacred bond of union. Sometimes a deep feeling of his wrongs inducedEvellin to inveigh against courts and kings with great animosity; butthis was the ebullition of a warm temper, not the cold enmity of acorroded heart. Immovable to harsh reproof, he was pliant as the bendingozier to persuasive kindness. Looking at the qualities of the man,rather than the accidents of his situation, Dr. Beaumont felt proud inthinking that his Isabel deserved the conquest she had gained.

  Evellin deferred his marriage till some event should happen which musthasten the crisis of his fate. The same dispatch which broughtintelligence of the death of his elder brother, announced the fall ofhis adversary by the hand of Felton. Concealment could now no longer bedeemed wisdom; he determined to burst from obscurity, lay claim to hishonours, and require to be relieved from a long pending accusationcontrived by malice and believed by credulity. But could he quit thebanks of the Ribble, leaving his Isabel to suffer the pangs of suspense,and to pine under those limes and alders that had sheltered him frompersecution? Her behaviour told him she would conduct herself withpropriety in every situation. Her society had been his chief consolationin sorrow, and he saw that her fortitude would support him in the hourof trial, her wisdom guide him in difficulty, and her participation givethe fairest colouring to success. Whether he sat in the senate as apeer, or stood at the bar as a criminal, Isabel should be his weddedassociate. What pleasure would he feel in presenting to his vain andbeautiful sister, the lily he had gathered and placed in his bosom,while he lay concealed in the woodlands! Or, when he embraced Walter ashis brother and friend, how would he rejoice to hear the fairLancastrian, with all the eloquent energy of unsophisticated nature,bless the services which had preserved and restored her husband.

  Isabel entered into all these happy anticipations. He thought her worthyto share his fortunes, and though she doubted, she now forbore to urgethe plea of insufficiency. Of one point she was certain, I mean herwillingness to suffer with him. She wanted little; she could enduremuch; she had many resources in her own mind; she considered no evil asinsupportable but the unworthiness of those she loved; and when shelooked on Evellin, she did not fear that trial. She smiled and blushedher full consent, and her lover informed Dr. Beaumont, that the time forclaiming his sister was arrived. "My affairs," continued he, "require myimmediate presence in London, and the woman of my heart must accompanyme as my wife. You have long placed implicit confidence in my honour. Wehave now known each other till affection has lost the gloss of novelty;and instead of depending on hope and imagination, it assumes the fixedcharacter of experience. If I perceived the germ of avarice, or lurkingyearnings after aggrandizement in your heart, I would point to stallsand mitres; for such endowments have originated from fortunatealliances. But I will only say to the Christian pastor who is contentwith feeding his few sheep in a wilderness, that I came not as aravenous wolf to steal his favourite lamb. It is from well-weighedpreference that I select your sister as the partner of my fortunes. Youbestow on me a pure and inestimable pearl, but you give it to one whoknows its worth. And rest assured, worthy Beaumont, I will neitherburden your generosity nor disgrace your family."

  When Evellin signed the certificate of his marriage, he left a blankafter the name of Allan, "Observe me well," said he to the witnesses ofthe ceremony; "note the time, place, and every circumstance; this is animportant contract." Mrs. Mellicent, to whom this remark wasparticularly addressed, unbent her stiff features from that aspect ofdisapprobation with which she had silently condemned her brother'sprecipitation, and saluted the bride with great cordiality, telling her,that dames of quality, like the wives of the Patriarchs, always calledtheir husbands lords. She added, that even those of the younger brothersof peers took place of baronets' ladies.

  [1] These, according to Clarendon, were the errors of Archbishop Laud.